there's a time and a place to die, but this ain't it
by djbechloemitchell
Summary: She feels the energy pulsing in her body like a rampaging fire, burning her core from the inside. Her hands heat up and she locks eyes with every single one of her teammates, her navy eyes lingering on the red head the longest. Her mouth opens and a scream pierces through the night as she blasts backwards and hits the wall. And with her last breath, she rasps, "Go. Now."
1. Barden

**Ladies and gentleman, I'm starting over.**

**I liked the plot to my old story. I really did.**

**But I didn't.**

**So I'm re-creating this story.**

**This new story, 'If There's a Future, We Want It Now', will loosely follow the same plot, only a lot of things will be different.**

**So, I'm sorry if you liked the old story, but I think you'll enjoy this one a lot more.**

**Thanks for putting up with my shit.**

* * *

Anthony Edward Stark, the Iron Man, is dead.

Well, not entirely.

It had all happened so fast, and little Rebeca Rae Stark was only five years old, too young to comprehend the situation. All Rebeca remembers on that fateful day is sitting in her weeping mother's lap as they both watched the news. Rebeca was laughing and smiling on the pretty colors- red, yellow, and orange- on the television screen as her mother picked up her cellphone for what seemed about the hundredth time and viciously dialed a number. She screamed Tony's name and told him to pick up the phone, ended the call, and dialed again.

Rebeca couldn't blame her.

She didn't want her daddy to miss the fireworks, either.

Rebeca remembered her father coming in very, very late that night, way past her bedtime. His clothes were shredded and singed, his face bloody and bruised, and a red and yellow suit hanging off of his worn body by wires and hot metal. Pepper was beating his chest, the clang of fists hitting iron echoing through the living room. She was telling him that he was supposed to be dead, that she saw him die on national television.

Little Rebeca simply tugged her thumb out of her mouth, and, dragging her stuffed bear across the floor, ran over to her dad, wrapping her arms around his armor-covered calf. He pulled Rebeca up off of the floor and held her, and Rebeca sighed as she felt a drip of water fall onto her neck.

Pepper coughed from behind them and Tony carried Rebeca over to the table, setting her down on the top. He took a deep breath, put his hands on his hips, and started talking.

It was one o'clock in the morning when little Rebeca Rae Stark went to sleep knowing three new things.

One: her father was Iron Man.

Two: everyone thought he was dead, and they intended to keep it that way.

Three: her older brother by ten years, Dylan Taylor Stark, was dead, his lifeless body rotting away in a prison cell in the Middle East after he had been taken and used to create weapons of mass destruction.

Rebeca stuck her thumb in her mouth for what she decided was the last time, remembering her brother's last words to her.

"_Don't be afraid of anything, kid," he had said, raising her chin up to make Rebeca look at him. She pouted._

"_Why? Snakes are scary. And so are spiders. And men with long hair," Rebeca retorted, crossing her arms. Dylan laughed merrily._

"_You can't be afraid of anything, Beca," he continued. "Because then, you won't be able to stand up for yourself, or what you believe in."_

"_What does that mean?"_

"_Look. I'm… going to be gone for a while, okay? I need to… do some things. I have to do them because if I don't, you and mommy and daddy will get hurt, okay? And I don't want that to happen. So I need you to stay strong for me. For all of us. I'm depending on you."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because, Beca," he said, leaning down to her height and putting a hand on her shoulder, "if there's a future, we have to fight for it. If there's a future, we want it now."_

_With that, Dylan Stark kissed his baby sister's head, grabbed his backpack, and walked out of the front door. The only sounds in the house were Rebeca sniffling and the echo of helicopter propellers coming from outside._

* * *

"Girl's a genius. Wonder where she gets it from," Nick Fury remarks, watching nineteen-year-old Rebeca Stark twist a wrench from under the car that she was in the process of creating.

"Ha-ha, Fury. Can we just get back to the question at hand, please?" Tony pleads, crossing his arms as his daughter pushes out from under the car. Fury nods.

"Fine. Here, Stark," he says, shoving a file into his hands. "This is everything you and Rebeca-"

"_Beca_," the young Stark corrects, her name coming out as a hasty hiss. Fury sighs- he could hardly put up one, but now two of them? Hell no.

"Right. This is everything you and Beca need to know about Barden." Tony raises his eyebrows.

"I don't like to be handed things."

"God damn it, Stark!" Fury yells, clenching his fists. "Just take the file! I'm going. I expect a reply no later than Wednesday." With that, Nick Fury strides out the door, huffing up the stairs.

"Damn," Beca drawls, breaking the silence. "Someone had a bowl of 'Fuck You Flakes' for breakfast this morning."

"With a glass of 'Oh Hell No' orange juice," Tony quips back. Beca smiles.

"With a side of 'Bitch Please' bacon," she retorts. Tony bursts out into laughter.

To say that the Starks got along well was an understatement. Tony and Beca almost spent every day together, unless Beca had to go out on some crazy rescue mission (who in their right mind decides to climb up a cliff without any gear? This isn't Twilight). They spend hours together in the armory, building and burning and spray-painting armor and cars and other machines to technological perfection.

The car Beca is working on is simply a side project.

With all of her armor done, she has her mind set for one thing: molecular de and reconstruction.

Teleportation.

She finds the concept simple, really. A device to take apart your molecules and transport them to somewhere else. People do it with cellphone calls and texting and radio- why can't it be done on solid objects?

But Tony's convinced that it can't be done. He even attempted it himself. Once. He told Beca, "If I can't do it, you can't do it either." But if he can build a deep-space armor that's capable of travelling to Jupiter in a few days, then she thinks that she can teleport things a few feet at a time.

"So," Tony starts again, clearing his throat, "this college thing seems… interesting. I mean," he clarifies, clapping his firm hands together, "you'll surely pass all of the classes, because… you know. Super genius." Beca smiles at this as she wipes the oil off of her hands.

"Anyways," Tony continues, "the others are going to be there. Benji, Luke, Jesse, Aubrey and Chloe."

A slight tickle irks Beca's ribcage at the mention of her redheaded friend of whom she hasn't seen in years (she could do fine without Aubrey and the others, but she still missed them, minus Aubrey). "Yeah?" Beca asks, but it comes out thick and hoarse.

"Uh, yup. That's where they're going to start training. Fury talked to the headmaster of the school, and without much persuasion, he reserved an entire building at the back of the school for you guys. No others, no distractions, just you," Tony informs, taking a step closer. "I think you should go."

"Wait," Beca commands, harsh and loud. "I see what this is. I see what you're doing."

Tony's eyebrows twitch. "And what exactly am I doing, Beca?"

"Dylan was supposed to go to Barden. You just want me to go because you wanted him to go. Well, guess what, Tony-Baloney?" Tony visibly cringes at the awful nickname that Rhodey had given him a few years back. "I'm not going. I'm going to stay here and build more armor and protect New York City. That's what I'm going to do. That's what I'm supposed to do."

Hearing this, Tony walks over to Beca and puts a firm hand on her small shoulder. "Listen, Becs," he says softly. "Dylan chose his own destiny, even if that meant dying at a young age to protect his entire family. It was a brave thing to do. But now, it's your turn. Your turn to chose your own fate. You get to decide what you want to do, not just because Dylan did it. He was a brave young man. He'll always be right here." Tony reaches over to the gap between Beca's collarbone and breasts and taps it twice, very gently.

Beca gets the memo, but she scoffs. "In my Arc?" she sasses, pulling down her black T-Shirt to reveal her glowing blue orb of a life source.

"No, in your heart."

"You mean what's left of my heart."

"Beca, c'mon. You know I'm not good at this sentimental crap."

"Well, that makes two of us." Beca puts a hand on her hip and cocks her head to the side. What would be so bad about going to Barden University? She'll see her teammates (although they're not officially the Avengers yet), actually get some human interaction besides her parents and the paparazzi stalking her whenever she goes to Wal-Mart to pick up the eggs (there were ups and downs of being toe only remaining Stark genius), talk to someone about her feelings (psh, no), and escape the confinement of Tony and Pepper.

Not that she doesn't love them, because she loves her parents dearly, but seriously, she thought about putting a restraining order on her mother when she broke her leg once because she _would not stop babying her_. And Tony was a lot worse. His favorite game to play was 'How Many Times Can I Poke Beca's Broken Leg Without Annoying Her?'.

"I'll go," she hears herself say, and Tony puts on a facial expression that makes him look like he's just seen Beca grow a second head.

"Are you sure?" he presses, leaning forward. "Because I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, I mean, you don't have to-"

"No. I want to go. I want to do this. It'd be good for my training. For the team's training," she insists, nodding at her father. He grins.

"Awesome. Remember, it's your team. It's your responsibility. I'll call Fury and tell him. When I'm done, you wanna see who can fly around the city and back first?" he offers, a sly grin tugging at his lips. Beca smirks.

"You're on, old man," she teases, and then she and Tony are racing towards where the armors are stored, all thoughts of Dylan and old friends and terrorists and new schools being abandoned and wiped away like the oil puddle under Beca's car.


	2. Let's Get Started

The car ride to Barden University is, to say at the very least, is a complete pain in the ass.

They're about two hours into driving to Georgia and doing a tuck and roll out of the car window right now doesn't seem like such a bad option to Chloe. Her younger brother, Jesse, is still ranting on and on to his parents (who don't really seem to care that much either) about how Sisqo's 'The Thong Song' changed the face of music as we know it today, Natasha tries not to go over the speed limit to often (which she fails at), and Clint insisted on polishing his sharp arrows. In a moving, speeding car.

Another hour passes and Chloe remembers, thank God, that her ear-buds are in her purse. She mentally face-palms her self for not remembering earlier and reaches into her Louis Vuitton bag to retrieve them. She plugs them into her iPhone and presses shuffle, and she shivers as the opening chords to 'Titanium' by David Guetta fills her listening ears.

Now all she has to do is not dwell on the fact that the battery to her phone will most likely die before they get to Barden.

Shit.

* * *

Chloe throws her arms in the air and jumps around a few times as she steps out of the Cadillac, breathing in the rich Georgia air. She knows she's getting weird looks from her parents and brother, but she couldn't care less. She's just glad to move around for the first time in six hours (why her parents didn't want to take a plane, she didn't know).

It's only when she hears a thunderous roar and a gust of wind zip above her she opens her eyes, just in time to see a flash of black and purple fly through the sky over the college campus. At first, she chooses to ignore it, but then her brother says, "Wow. She just keeps getting better and better at that. She hasn't hit anything. Yet."

Chloe turns on Jesse, her eyebrows raised. "Who?" she asks. "Who're you talking about?"

"Beca. Stark," he adds. Chloe smiles and licks her lips.

"It'll be good to see her again. Haven't seen Beca since o' six. She was like, what, thirteen? Wonder how she's been. She's nineteen now, right?" the ginger rambles, but she's too focused on seeing the brunette for the first time in years to care. Jesse snickers.

"I know you've always had a thing for her, Chlo. Don't deny it," he teases, and Chloe's face flushes red, because, well, she does have a thing for Beca. The way she runs a hand through her dark brown hair and then shakes her head makes her heart flutter. The way she bites her lip when something's frustrating makes Chloe lick her own. The way Beca sends her sexy half-smirks or full-blown smiles makes her want to throw herself off of the nearest cliff.

Of course, she doesn't know if Beca still does any of this, but still. It was probably the only thing on Chloe's mind when they were younger.

The twenty one year old is beckoned inside of a building near the back of the campus, and as she pushes open the metal door, she laughs. "Aubrey!" she exclaims, and the blonde looks up from Luke and Benji.

"Chloe!" she yells back, running towards Chloe. The girls embrace, and Chloe rubs Aubrey's back while the blonde buries her head in Chloe's neck.

The girls had been inseparable since childhood up until Aubrey's father, Thor, had to relocate to New Mexico to be closer to the Bifrost portal opening. Chloe would go to visit Aubrey on Spring Breaks and off-weeks, and Aubrey, in turn, would fly over to Florida and stay summers with the ginger.

"Ahem." Chloe breaks out of her hug to see Luke standing behind them with his arms crossed. Chloe breaks out into a grin at the sight of the Brit.

"Luke!" she all but screams as she tears herself from Aubrey and flings herself into Luke's arms. She smiles into his shoulder as she remembers all of the good times they've had together- mildly electrocuting Mr. Stark with Beca (it was hilarious until they got caught, Beca had taken the blame for them), dropping melted Twinkie bombs onto Jesse's extensive movie collection, setting up trip wires in the park and laughing as runners and joggers fall flat onto their flabbergasted faces.

Ah, good times.

Chloe says hello to Benji as well, giving him a one-armed hug over his scrawny shoulders because, well, she doesn't know them that well. Him and Beca were always together when they were younger, talking about science and weapons and technology and other things child prodigy geniuses talk about.

Chloe's attention turns to the sound of metal scraping together, and she turns. Her eyes take in only a glimpse of black and purple before a person is revealed, and her heart stops and her breath catches in her throat and her vision goes blurry and she's _pretty fucking sure that there are angels screaming in her ear,_ because in front of her is the nineteen year old piece of woman she's been missing out on for six years.

Beca Stark.

The brunette is wearing a low-cut black V-neck (God on high, help her) with blue denim Hollister jeans (she can breathe in that store?) with a see through white T-shirt, multiple ear spikes (holy shit, that's sexy) and black eyeliner with silver eye shadow. Her bracelets hang loosely from her wrists and jiggle as she strides towards Chloe. Her black, leather combat-boots clunk on the floor as she walks, her surprisingly long legs for her height moving one in front of the other. Beca stops in front of Chloe, and the ginger is staring at Beca's mouth and she knows it's moving, but she doesn't understand anything that Beca's saying. All her senses are telling her is that the girl in front of her is incredibly sexy, she smells like vanilla and metal, and that Beca is currently using her soft index finger to push Chloe's mouth closed.

"My eyes are up here, Chloe," Beca teasingly chastises, and Chloe's eyes snap upwards and are met with a beautiful yet strikingly haunting shade of navy blue.

"I… um…" she manages to say, but it comes out husky and not as Chloe intended it to come out. She had expected herself to be cool and smooth, not a blithering idiot. But Beca chuckles, and Chloe stomach leaps.

"It's good to see you too, Red." And then, Beca Stark does a very un-Beca Stark thing to do.

She hugs Chloe.

A real, fully, both armed, tight _hug._

When she was younger, Beca had never been one for physical contact. In fact, she never really got any. It was always either a kiss on the cheek and a hug from Pepper, or a clap on the back or a fist-bump from Tony. But right now, Beca feels so incredibly warm, and her hair is tickling Chloe's cheek, and her mind doesn't know how to respond.

Fortunately, Chloe's body takes the liberty of reacting for her. Her heart tightens as she feels her arms wrap around Beca's small but firm waist, and her head falls onto Beca's muscular shoulder. Huh. She's buffer than Chloe remembers.

It seems like it's minutes, hours, days, even years before they break apart, and Chloe takes one last longing look into Beca's gorgeous blue eyes before the brunette turns to the rest of the group.

"Beca-bear!" yells Bruce Banner, approaching the small girl. Beca yelps and laughs as Bruce pulls her into a headlock, rubbing her head with his fist.

"Brucey!" she yells back, and then Bruce releases her and pulls Beca into a fatherly hug.

"Where've you been, kid?" he asks merrily, and wow, Chloe can't remember a time when Bruce Banner was this… happy. Beca shrugs, shoving her hands into her back pockets.

"You know, stuck in the armory, trying to figure out the mysterious secrets that is teleportation. Is our bet still on, Benj?" Beca calls towards the boy, and Benji Banner smirks.

"You know it. Just try not to get too upset when I crack teleportation first, okay?" he teases, and Beca scoffs.

"Sure, Benji. Like that'll happen."

"Good to see you again, Rebeca," Clint greets, and Beca presses her lips together and manages a tight smile.

"You too, Mr. Barton. Mrs. Barton," she replies, nodding curtly towards the adults. Chloe bites the inside of her cheek in anxiousness.

"And, uh, where's… Tony?" Natasha drawls, easily looking over Beca's head. Beca crosses her wiry arms and smirks with half of her mouth.

"He'll be here in about…" Beca glances down at her Rolex, eyes following the tick of the third hand. "Three, two, one-"

She's cut off when there's a bang on the door, and Iron Man bursts into the room, leaving the door hanging on its hinges. Beca raises an eyebrow towards her father as the armor disbands and compacts itself into a watch; one that looks exactly like Beca's.

"Sorry!" Tony shouts into the room, putting his hands on his knees. "Sorry. There was some traffic."

Beca sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "In the air, Dad?"

Tony straightens himself up and looks his daughter straight in her blue eyes. With the most serious look Chloe's ever seen Tony Stark wear, he says, "Yes." And then, he adds, "So is this everyone?"

The group nods, well, all except for Luke. Tony walks over to the Brit and puts a hand on his muscular shoulder. "Luke," he starts awkwardly, "I'm… I'm so sorry. Steve was a fantastic man with a heart of gold. And he'll always be with us."

Chloe's mind suddenly remembers that Steve Rogers had died during the summer. Being frozen in ice for 70 and fighting in an alien invasion had taken its toll on his body, and his heart had finally given out, worn from the sickness and beatings its taken over the span of Steve's life.

When Luke just nods, Tony pats him on the back then walks over to a table in the left corner of the room. He sits down in the metal chair, and Chloe cringes as she hears the loud screeching of metal on the floor. "Everyone," he announces, motioning lazily towards the door, "meet Amy Wilson, Stacie Hill, Cynthia-Rose Fury, and Lilly Ona… something."

As if rehearsed, four women walk through the door frame, the first being a large blonde woman, the next being a tall brunette with large… assets, followed by an African American woman with pink hair, and a small Asian. "SUP, BITCHES?" the blonde screams, slapping her large stomach, "the name's Fat Amy, and I'm the best mermaid dancer in Tasmania." She pauses. "With teeth."

"Stacie here's going to keep you Yankees connected to da man," Fat Amy says with a swing of her arms, making her look like a gangster. "Black Beauty-" the pink-haired woman blinks slowly at the Tasmanian, narrowing her eyes, "-is going to be giving you your missions from S.H.I.E.L.D. Careful, Shawshank," Fat Amy whispers, looking at Beca, "you don't wanna be crossing her. Her old man's the boss."

"So I've heard."

"Aight. Cool. Cool. Tall, tan and horny over there's Stacie." The brunette waves her fingers at the group, a nail file encased in her slim fingers. "And that's Lilly," Amy says, pointing to the tiny Asian. "She's… strange."

"I ate my twin in the womb," Lilly whispers, and Chloe hears Jesse cover a laugh with a cough.

"Of course you did, sweetheart," Amy coos, then turns her back to Lilly, makes a face and rolls her eyes drastically. "Lilly's going to be on guard duty. Which means protecting armor, weapons, the base, secret files, porn," she coughs, looking at Luke and Jesse, "and whatever else superheroes stash. I'm going to be keeping in touch with you guys when you're out kicking ass, and Stacie and Cynthia-Rose are going to be programming and activating the ground weapons from here."

"Okay, then I'll have to show you how to work Stark technology," Beca adds, crossing her arms defiantly. Stacie scoffs.

"Like, we already know how to use S.H.I.E.L.D tech. How's that any diff?" she asks, jutting her hip out. Beca looks at her father and Tony looks back at her. The both look at the girls one more time, and they burst out into laughter.

"Wow. Okay," Beca gasps in between cackles, clutching her stomach. Tony's slapping his hand on his knee, and Clint and Natasha look like they've just witnessed the Loch Nest Monster juggle dildos. "It's… it's a lot different," Beca informs once she and Tony have calmed down.

"Whatever," Stacie huffs, and Beca smirks. Tony claps his hands together as he stands up and kicks his chair back under the table.

"Welp, that's it for me. I gotta go. Beca," he twists his head over to his daughter, "you good from here?" She nods. "Seriously? You don't want me to stay and-"

"Goodbye, father!" Beca says, patting his shoulder. He grabs Beca in a one-armed hug, and while he does so, he leans down and says something into her ear. She nods silently, and then smiles as he gives her a real hug, a fist bump, and walks out the door with his hands shoved in his pockets.

"We should be going as well," Natasha states, walking over to Chloe and Jesse. "Bye, you too. Call us when you can. Don't die. Stay out of trouble."

"Of course we won't!" Jesse laughs as Natasha kisses them both on the cheek.

"See you later, kids! Love you!" Clint calls. He wraps an arm around his wife's shoulders and leads her out the door. Chloe stares after them for a moment. And then her attention is refocused on Beca, who is currently in the process of saying farewell to Bruce Banner.

"And remember, if Benji Hulks up at a bad time, just pinch him in the ear. He'll turn right back into his normal nerdy self," he says. Benji pouts.

"Don't worry, Bruce. I'll take care of him."

"Dude! You're only a year older than me!" Benji whines, but Bruce silences him with a hug.

"Be good, son. I'll see you soon." With that, Bruce is the last person to walk out the door of the building, casting looks behind him as he leaves. Chloe watches him until he's out of sight, and then her mind refocuses itself on Beca Stark.

"Alright, nerds," Beca says, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Let's get started."


	3. Reality Check

"Jesus Christ," Beca hears Aubrey pant from the other side of the room. "I knew the Hobbit could pack a punch, but that was ridiculous."

Beca smirks. Although it shouldn't have, punching Aubrey in the stomach made her feel good. The best part is, she isn't even wearing her armor. Pepper was concerned about Beca's safety when she was young, being the 'only living person' with the blood of a Stark left. Pepper had asked Uncle Rhodey and Happy Hogan to show Beca how to protect herself using boxing and martial arts. She remembers her first spar with the both of them, Happy's lame insults- which resulted with him being the first to hit the floor.

Tony wasn't really worried. His advice was to "let your mother take care of errands and don't tell anyone you're Titanium Girl."

"C'mon, people!" Beca yells, rolling her shoulders. "I need a real challenge! Luke, come on, dude! Sparring was your idea! Get over here, show me what you've got, your majesty!"

Luke rolls his eyes at Beca's teasing manner. "I'm not fighting you, Beca."

"Why not?"

"Because you play dirty. When you know you're going to lose a fight, you put your armor on. You cheat."

Beca scoffs at the British man, because in all honesty, this is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. "We're sparring with each other to prepare for when we fight the, uh, bad guys, right?" she asks, because she doesn't really know what they're up against quite yet.

"Uh, obviously," Luke responds, leaning his head forward.

"Then why shouldn't we cheat? Or play dirty? The other guys are going to, I assure you that. They're going to do everything in their power to win, and so are we. Terrorists aren't going to stop shooting at our heads because our shoelaces are untied. Loki sure as hell didn't stop the invasion on Earth because the military wasn't here to help the old Avengers. He didn't stop trying to kill our parents because Bruce Banner was having a temper-tantrum and destroying half of the city.. I don't recall that happening." Beca scans the room to see that all eyes are on here, wide with surprise and fear. When nobody speaks, she continues.

"They're not going to lay off. They're not going to give it sixty-three percent. If we don't step up our game, we're going to get our heads blown off. I don't care if we're not fighting anything right now, but we need to be prepared for the worst. Because I sure as hell am not going to let _my _team die because they want to 'play fair'. Got that?" Beca finished, her eyebrows digging deep into her forehead.

Luke nods slowly after a minute. "Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. You're right."

"Who… who told you this?" Chloe asks softly, lowering her head. Beca strains to hear her.

"What?" she asks dumbly. Chloe looks back up at Beca, her face contorted with confusion and pain.

"Who told you this? Where did you learn this from?" she repeats, and Beca's stomach sinks. She clenches her jaw and takes a deep breath, cracking her neck again.

"Dylan," she croaks, and she hears Jesse whistle lowly and Benji make some kind of smacking noise with his mouth, while Fat Amy looks up from the corner she's in with Stacie, Cynthia-Rose, and Lilly.

"Who's Dylan? He hot?" Fat Amy asks excitedly, a sly smile creeping up onto her lips. Before Beca has a chance to sigh heavily and run a hand down her face, Chloe speaks up.

"Dylan was Beca's older brother. When she was five, he…uh…" she trails off awkwardly, not knowing what to say. But Beca jumps in with fire in her eyes.

"He's dead now. He was killed by al-Qaeda after he refused to build them weapons. He died for the betterment of America. He died to protect every single one of you," she sneers, directing most of this mainly towards Aubrey. "I don't know why people don't want to talk about him. He wasn't a bad person. He was amazing. He died a hero, okay? Now, let's get back to the matter at hand and _someone fight me_."

Chloe slams her water bottle down on the table, and Beca jumps slightly with surprise. She walks to the middle of the room where Beca is standing, sheds her jacket, and cracks her knuckles. Beca widens her eyes.

"Are we going to do this or not?" Chloe asks, raising her eyebrows. Beca just stands there, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes wide, like a deer caught in headlights. The redhead rolls her eyes good naturedly, and then sends a kick in the brunette's direction.

Beca spins out of the way quickly before Chloe has the chance to hit her in the stomach, easily ducking away from her foot. Chloe stumbles forwards, her eyebrows dipped and her eyes wide, and Beca can tell that Chloe was expecting to hit her. She smirks, and jumps to make her move.

Chloe spots her before Beca has the chance to attack, so Beca jumps onto her hands and throws herself over Chloe, grabs her hands from behind, and pins her to the ground. "Betcha didn't see that coming, eh?" Beca whispers huskily. She smiles and bites her tongue with her teeth when she sees goose bumps scatter across the ginger's skin by her ears and neck. Beca, who just want to show off at this point, bends over, puts only one hand on the ground, and pulls her legs over her head, touching down on the ground with a soft thud.

"Daaaaaamn," Cynthia-Rose drawls from the other side of the room, a hand on her chin. Beca rolls her eyes dramatically and sticks her hand out to help her friend up. Chloe looks down at her hand, looks up at Beca, looks down once more, and grabs her hand. Beca pulls her up with ease.

Chloe smiles.

Beca manages to grin back.

Well, damn. Now her stomach's got butterflies and her head is spinning.

* * *

"How the hell did you do that?" Beca turns around to see Chloe running to catch up to her, her face slightly flushed in a way that brings out her baby blue eyes. Beca was glad when the others became worn out, and she disbanded the group for the day.

"Do what?" Beca asks. Chloe falls into step beside the small brunette and grins.

"You beat me earlier. In sparring. How? How did you do that? The last time I saw you, you were a small, thin, awkward little thirteen-year-old kid."

"Oh." Beca feels herself lost at words for some reason. "I, uh, got myself into shape. I don't just want to depend on my armor, because I might not always have it with me," she says, shrugging. Chloe nods, looking ahead of them as they walk down the hall to their respective dorms. It's only when a third voice speaks up that the silence breaks.

"I'm pretty impressed by what you did back there, Stark." Beca whips around at the nasal voice to be face-to-face with Aubrey Odinson.

"What do you want?" she hisses, and Aubrey raises her eyebrows at the dark eyed girl.

"I just wanted to say you were good back there," Aubrey innocently repeats. "You're not as much like your father as I thought you were."

Chloe tenses up beside Beca, and the brunette narrows her dark eyes. "What the hell do you mean, 'not as much like your father as I thought you were'?" she hisses.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that Tony Stark hides in his suit of armor and has a computer tell him what to do all the time, and then he goes and fakes his death so he can slack off for the rest of his life because he's too afraid to do anything."

Beca cracks her neck and sees Aubrey's eyes widen slightly. "Who the fuck do you think you are, going and talking about my father like that? I'm nothing like him. He's nothing like that. You don't know me. You don't even like me," the brunette snaps, looking Aubrey directly in the eye. "It's not like your father is the face of perfection, either. He can't go into a restaurant without smashing something."

Aubrey remains silent.

"Leave," Beca demands. Aubrey doesn't move. "Get the fuck out of my sight. _Now._"

Aubrey spins around on her heel and walks away briskly, turning back to cast angry glances at Beca.

"Wow," Chloe breathes, looking at Beca. "You really put her in her place."

"Yeah," Beca grumbles, turning to walk. Chloe moves with her. "What was she talking about? Why was she acting like that?"

"She feels threatened by you, Beca." Beca raises an eyebrow at the ginger.

"Me?" Why me?"

"Because you're leading this team. She's always so used to having things handed to her, used to being in charge. She knows you're going to do a better job than her. So she's trying to take you out," Chloe explains, and Beca nods.

"Okay. But what does Tony have to do with anything?" she asks. Chloe shrugs.

"I don't know."

Beca runs a hand through her hair as they continue to walk in silence down the dim hall, the only sound being their footsteps.

* * *

"Look, asshole," the man spits, struggling against the chains that bind him to the wall, "you can't make me do anything. You've tried. And failed. Every fucking time."

His words echo through the dark chamber, located deep underground. A small table sits in the corner, old plates of unknown food substance rotting on top of it, and an old laptop glowing in the darkness. Bits and pieces of screws, wires, and scraps of metal are scattered across the rock floor, covering the stains of motor oil.

The man in front of the hostage pulls the whip out of his hip holster and slashes it against the poor man's face, causing him to scream out briefly. Another whip mark joins the others on his face. Blood dribbles down his face, passing over the other dried, red liquid paths.

"I have left you alone for far too long, Stark," the man standing hisses, narrowing his beady eyes. For fourteen years, I have let you be, not bothering with you as you rot in your chains down here. But now, my plan is formed, and it is MY time to strike. You _will _build me the weapons, or I just might go and find that _little sister _of yours that you always speak of, positive that she will one day come and rescue you. Where is she now? Does she still think you're dead? Everyone else thinks you are."

He throws a rolled-up blue sheet of paper at the bleeding man's face, and it bounces off and rolls next to his bruised leg. "Get to work on these weapons, or the girl joins you. But this time, I will not spare her."

Dylan Taylor Stark's brown eyes go wide.

* * *

**AHAHAHA I HOPE I KILLED YOU ALL!**

**Beca's acting a little bitchy to Aubrey this chapter because something's going to happen soon. But I ain't saying what!**

**Also, Dylan is still alive. If you couldn't tell, he's 29 now, so that means he was imprisoned for 14 years... somewhere.**

**Sucks to suck, Dylan.**

**Sorry it took so long to update, by the way. My sister was in the hospital and in a coma. D:**

**So thanks for reading and putting up with me!**

**Also, if you want to review, please don't mention my sister or anything like that. Only talk about the story. As much as I appreciate that, the reviews are for the fic, not my sister. But if you want, you can PM me.**

**Thanks for putting up with my shit!**


	4. Empty Helmet

Tony Stark winces as his alarm clock goes off at nine-thirty exactly to wake him up, but he's been awake for hours, staring at the ceiling. His hand slams against the top of the machine quickly, trying not to wake Pepper, who's sleeping peacefully beside him.

Tony blinks slowly and then rolls out of bed, tucking Pepper back in the blanket. He shuffles down to the kitchen, his vision still slightly blurry from sleep. J.A.R.V.I.S greets him as he opens the pantry.

"Good morning, sir," the system speaks, and Tony sighs.

"Morning, J.A.R.V.I.S," he responds, crunching his teeth down on a bagel. The system is quiet for a moment, but speaks again.

"Sir, you do know what day it is, correct?" Tony swallows as a painful lump in his throat appears, the food sliding awkwardly down his throat.

"Yes. Thank you for reminding me," Tony nearly hisses, because he doesn't want to take his anger out on the only thing that protects him besides his suit and Pepper. "Where's the phone?"

"Top of the bar, sir, next to the coffee machine."

"Thank you." Tony makes his way over to the bar and picks up the phone, his hand shaking slightly.

It's now or never.

* * *

When she gets the phone call, she's on the floor, covered in half of her Mark XIII armor.

And, of course, Benji and Chloe are there, staring at her as she injects the fiftieth shot of bio-tech into her arms and legs, allowing the armor to be controlled telepathically.

"Uh, Beca," Benji hesitantly says, blinking when Beca grunts and looks up at him, the last shot in her hand, "do you really think that this is the best idea?"

"'Course it is. My watch can get destroyed or lost at any time. This is much easier. And just think about how cool it'll be! I can just close my eyes and stick my arm out, and BAM! My armor flies onto my body," she says, injecting the last chip into her arm with a yelp. "There. Done."

Beca hears Benji lean over to Chloe and whisper, "She hasn't gotten very much sleep lately."

Chloe raises her eyebrows at Beca as she gets up and stands on the small metal platform in the middle of the training room. Over the course of the past few weeks, Beca had decided that the Avengers' hideout/training building was too bland. She took it to herself to remodel the entire (and she wasn't joking when she meant entire, she literally upgraded the entire building) place with a new security system, equip it with J.A.R.V.I.S, use the smaller rooms for her suits and weapons, and use the bigger ones for training and a lounge area.

"Observe," Beca announces, motioning in front of her. Pieces of her Mark XIII are scattered across the floor in front of her, the helmet dull and lifeless on the ground. "Now, check this out!" Beca thrusts her left arm in front of her and pulls her right arm back towards her head, sticking two fingers up. Her tongue is clamped by her teeth in anticipation as she wills the metal hand to come flying towards her.

Nothing.

Beca's eyebrows furrow and she tries again, thrusting both of her arms forward as she shuts her eyes. She hears Benji snicker from behind her.

The genius huffs, smacking her arms. "C'mon! Why isn't it working?" she says, hitting her calf. _One last time, _she thinks. _It'll work._

She extends one arm out and screams, "MOVE!" in her mind. The left hand of the armor comes flying towards her, latching itself onto her arm with a click and a whir. Beca looks up smugly at the boy and the red head (they thought she couldn't do it, _ha_) and says, "Alright. Send them all."

Without warning, the feet of the armor propel themselves in the air and launch themselves towards the brunette, and she jumps up, getting knocked back slightly as the armor crashes against her shins. She picks herself up only for the torso of the armor to come flying towards her and she falls backwards, only just managing to activate the thrusters and stop herself from hitting the ground.

"Wow," Beca gasps, hovering shakily in the air as Chloe and Benji laugh. "Hey, don't laugh at me!" she snaps.

"Sorry, Becs," Benji apologizes, smiling at her. "But your face was priceless. Besides, you're too small for all of this titanium to be hitting you like that."

"Oh _really_?" Beca drawls, raising an eyebrow and clapping her hands together. She cracks her neck and turns back to what's left of the armor, eyeing it carefully. She closes her eyes and exhales softly, focusing her mind on the armor. She imagines the shoulders of the raven armor latching onto her body, the cool feeling of the metal travelling up her shoulders and forming her helmet-

_CLINK!_

Beca opens her eyes just in time to be met with the face of the armor spiraling towards her face just as the helmet forms over her head, covering her dark brown locks. She closes her eyes quickly and braces herself for the impact, the force of the mask hitting her nose just a little too hard. But she simple brushes it off and turns back to Benji and Chloe, giving them a cocky smirk, though they can't see it.

"Suck. My. Dick," Beca taunts, motioning towards her hips. She screen in the armor zooms in to Chloe's face, and Beca likes the way the ginger's bright blue eyes follow the path of the brunette's hands.

"Good morning, ma'am," J.A.R.V.I.S greets. "Welcome back. Power at ninety-two percent, all systems seem to be functioning normally."

"Sweet," Beca responds, lowering herself to the ground and taking a few steps around. She smiles as she hears the satisfying clicks and whirs of her machine around her body, filling her ears.

Man, does she love her suit.

The Titanium-Girl-armor-clad brunette takes a few more steps to her left before she notices something.

Something's… missing.

Beca looks down at herself and inspects her arms, legs and chest. Hesitantly, she turns around and says, "Well, fuck."

The response she gets is the rear of the suit slamming into her backside and throwing her forward, the armor scattering across the floor as some of it files off of her body. Beca groans and flips over. She lifts her head and smiles sweetly up at Chloe and Benji, who are doubled over in laughter, her teeth grinding against each other and her jaw clenched.

"OW."

Beca strains to turn her head in the direction of her helmet as a sharp beeping noise emits from the mask. She rolls over once more and sticks her head in, blinking a few times as the computer reboots. "Who is it, J.A.R.V.I.S?" she asks, looking at the caller I.D as the system pulls it up.

"It's your father, ma'am."

Beca sighs.

Oh, yeah. Of course she goes and forgets about today.

"Uh," Beca sputters, her mind racing. "Put, uh, put him on." There's a small silence, and then the sound of breathing can be heard.

"Uh, hi, Becs." Did he just wake up?

"Hey, Dad," Beca exchanges lamely, looking over to the others. Benji sticks out his thumb and pinky finger and holds it up to his ear, and then points to the door. Beca nods, her ears ringing over the sound of breathing. Benji nudges Chloe, and after the red head casts the brunette a longing look, the pair get up and exit the room, leaving Beca still lying on her back on the ground, her arms and legs spread out like a snow-angel.

"How are you?" Beca wasn't aware she said anything until she got a response.

"Um, I'm… I'm okay. You?"

"I'm alright." Tony coughs awkwardly on the other line. "Are you, uh…"

"Am I what?"

"Sure. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I-" Beca hesitates. "I… no."

"No?"

"No." She says the word louder. "No." Louder. "No, I'm not sure I'm alright." She sits up and makes the mask retract from her face.

In all honesty, she really, truly, doesn't know. She's been holding up all these emotions inside of her, and she wants to cry. She wants to scream. She wants to punch something. She wants to cry on someone's shoulder.

But she doesn't. She knows deep down that everything is her fault.

She has panic attacks sometimes. She blacks out. Her blood gets hot, and all she sees is bright, painful red. But does she tell anybody?

Not once.

"Okay." There's another silence, and the both of them just sit there, slightly enjoying their company.

"Do you… wanna talk about it?" Beca can clearly hear the hesitation in Tony's voice.

"Uh, no. Not, uh, not really. But thank you," she adds hastily.

"It's okay. I just have to wait until your mother wakes-" Tony is cut off in the middle of his sentence by a sharp beeping noise on his end of the line. There's a thudding sound, and then the beeping stops.

"What was that?" Beca asks, putting her arms on her knees. Tony grunts.

"Nothing," is his hasty response, but he's not fooling anybody.

"That was J.A.R.V.I.S's emergency alarm. What's going on, Dad?" she asks, her jaw clenching. Tony doesn't speak for a moment, then he exhales.

"I need to talk to you, Beca."

"Okay, what is it?"

"No, I mean in person."

"Like, today?"

"That would be good."

Beca pauses, then asks, "Should I bring the others?"

"Huh?"

"The others. The team, Tony. Should I bring them to California with me?"

"Uh, yes. Yes, that's an excellent idea. Who do you trust the most out of all of them?" Tony asks.

Beca raises her eyebrows, genuinely surprised at her father's question. But she says the first person that comes to mind. "Chloe. Chloe Barton."

"Make sure she comes. I'll need her here."

"Um, yeah. Okay."

Silence.

"I, uh, have to go, Becs. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, see you." Beca goes and almost exits out of the call, but Tony's voice stops her.

"Beca."

"Yep?"

"…I love you."

"Uh," Beca coughs. "Yeah. You too. I mean, I love you. Too. Bye, Dad."

"Bye."

Beca ends the call, rips the helmet off of her head and stares blankly at it's cold, empty, metal eyes, and screams as loud and as long as she possibly can.

* * *

**WOW I AM SUCH AN ASSHOLE. IT'S BEEN WEEKS PROBABLY SINCE I'VE UPDATED.**

**SORRY ABOUT THAT.**

**So, what do you think happened on this day? What happened with Tony when the beeping noise went off?**

**Gah, I love cliff-hangers.**


End file.
